Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr GonZo
I don't have the time nor the encouragement to research statistical data showing crime rates going down after the introduction of capital punishment, but I'm still betting that capital punishment generally scares people away from doing things that can get them executed.
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Great post for the most part, however, I think the bolded statement above is subject to a big fat caveat. If the average person takes the time to ponder the potential consequences of any particular action and realize that they could be executed for the crime they are about to commit, then I think your statement holds.
Personally, I don't think capital punishment is an effective deterrent for offences that are committed in the heat of the moment, crimes of passion, etc. In those cases, you don't really have time to consider the consequences; you simply act.
If you look at the circumstances surrounding a lot of murders, I think a good number of them occur in situations where things happened quickly and there was little opportunity to weigh the consequences of those events.